The Application of Faith

[+Sherapy]

34 minutes ago, XenoFish said:

 

There's a difference from simply having a specific attitude towards something, and having a tool box of attitudes that work in unison.

The best attitude or mindset I believe is that of being realistic. You need to stay grounded. Happy kitty cat thoughts might make you feel good, but unless you apply your intentions you'll get nowhere.

I have the same Philosophy, for me, aligning myself with reality as it is is my vantage point, from there I proceed. 

 

[+Hammerclaw]

Faith is a lost little girl, waiting at the service desk for the mother to find her. Faith is a working wife, waiting patiently for her truck driver husband to return home on Christmas Eve.  Faith is two young lovers with a pocket full of dreams and not much else, serene in the certainty of their future. Faith is a farmer, trudging home from the fields at dusk, knowing supper and the loving arms of his family await his arrival. Faith is a husband and a wife sharing the joys of life and easing it's sorrows, shouldering the burden of grief for each-other. Faith is more than a word, more than emotion; it is the very substance and foundation of human existence and to live life without is a dismal prospect. It is by the grace of God or whatever frame of reference one chooses to attribute it to. There is no coin that can purchase it and it's worth is without measure.

Edited December 26, 2017 by Hammerclaw

[+Sherapy]

38 minutes ago, Hammerclaw said:

Faith is a lost little girl, waiting at the service desk for the mother to find her. Faith is a working wife, waiting patiently for her truck driver husband to return home on Christmas Eve.  Faith is two young lovers with a pocket full of dreams and not much else, serene in the certainty of their future. Faith is a farmer, trudging home from the fields at dusk, knowing supper and the loving arms of his family await his arrival. Faith is a husband and a wife sharing the joys of life and easing it's sorrows, shouldering the burden of grief for each-other. Faith is more than a word, more than emotion; it is the very substance and foundation of human existence and to live life without is a dismal prospect. It is by the grace of God or whatever frame of reference one chooses to attribute it to. There is no coin that can purchase it and it's worth is without measure.

So, for you, life without faith is a dismal prospect? 

How do you apply faith in your life?

 

 

[+Hammerclaw]

Just now, Sherapy said:

So, for you, life without faith is a dismal prospect? 

How do you apply faith in your life?

 

 

My life is an act of Faith, in everything and everyone I place my trust. Talking to God is much the same as talking to yourself--you just hope someone else is listening. Every evening the sun sets, but on the morrow it also rises. Emotions also rise and set and rise again and no matter what burden of grief and sorrow I carry from one day into the next, I have Faith there will eventually be release and my sadness transmogrified into joy. To lose that Faith is to lose one's reason for continuance. So, I see in the day's rain the flowering of hope tomorrow.

[+Sherapy]

4 minutes ago, Hammerclaw said:

My life is an act of Faith, in everything and everyone I place my trust. Talking to God is much the same as talking to yourself--you just hope someone else is listening. Every evening the sun sets, but on the morrow it also rises. Emotions also rise and set and rise again and no matter what burden of grief and sorrow I carry from one day into the next, I have Faith there will eventually be release and my sadness transmogrified into joy. To lose that Faith is to lose one's reason for continuance. So, I see in the day's rain the flowering of hope tomorrow.

Are grief and sorrow constant companions?

Edited December 26, 2017 by Sherapy

[+Hammerclaw]

25 minutes ago, Sherapy said:

Is grief and sorrow constant companions?

When you ask yourself that question, how do you answer? Light can not exist without darkness, neither can happiness and joy without pain and sorrow. The worse pain a woman might bear in her life becomes joy when her baby is placed in her arms. To lose the love of one leads to finding new love and new hope, a fresh start. Grief, sadness, sorrow reminds us just how precious joy and happiness, love and contentment really are. It is the measure of a person's will and fortitude how well they deal with that contrast and how they shoulder the burden, not only of the vicissitudes of life but it's treasures.

Edited December 26, 2017 by Hammerclaw

[+Sherapy]

37 minutes ago, Hammerclaw said:

When you ask yourself that question, how do you answer? Light can not exist without darkness, neither can happiness and joy without pain and sorrow. The worse pain a woman might bear in her life becomes joy when her baby is placed in her arms. To lose the love of one leads to finding new love and new hope, a fresh start. Grief, sadness, sorrow reminds us just how precious joy and happiness, love and contentment really are. It is the measure of a persons will and fortitude how well they deal with that contrast and how they shoulder the burden, not only of the vicissitudes of life but it's treasures.

I would answer at times in my life sorrow and grief have been companions.  What they have meant or led to was situational, sometimes they made no sense at all.

What is an act of faith, for you? 

My first son was born natural and it was painful and to this day it remains painful, think about it imagine sheeting a 8 pound watermelon, it is gonna be painful, right, but the pain doesn't turn the act of delivery into joy, the joy is there too. The experience of natural childbirth is one of joy and pain. 

My next two kids I got epidermals, no physical pain at all. Only joy. Lol 

Edited December 26, 2017 by Sherapy

[+Hammerclaw]

Just now, Sherapy said:

I would answer at times in my life sorrow and grief have been companions.  

 

Have they ever really left you? Did you do as most of us do 'pon finding happiness, bury them in a deep dark corner of you mind where no one could find them? Do certain subsequent events mirror and evoke them? Do you pull them out, every-now-and-then and reflect upon them?

[+Sherapy]

11 minutes ago, Hammerclaw said:

Have they ever really left you? Did you do as most of us do 'pon finding happiness, bury them in a deep dark corner of you mind where no one could find them? Do certain subsequent events mirror and evoke them? Do you pull them out, every-now-and-then and reflect upon them?

Sure, I have sequestered painful experiences and yes, I have ruminated on experiences, according to CBT (cognitive behavioral therapists) rumination is the brains way of seeking to heal.  

 

Edited December 26, 2017 by Sherapy

[jmccr8]

8 minutes ago, Hammerclaw said:

Have they ever really left you? Did you do as most of us do 'pon finding happiness, bury them in a deep dark corner of you mind where no one could find them? Do certain subsequent events mirror and evoke them? Do you pull them out, every-now-and-then and reflect upon them?

I remember everything but there is no sorrow or grief because they were learning experiences. The funny and joyful things always make me laugh or smile.

jmccr8

[+Hammerclaw]

15 minutes ago, Sherapy said:

I would answer at times in my life sorrow and grief have been companions.  What they have meant or led to was situational, sometimes they made no sense at all.

What is an act of faith, for you? 

My first son was born natural and it was painful and to this day it remains painful, think about it imagine sheeting a 8 pound watermelon, it is gonna be painful, right, but the pain doesn't turn the act of delivery into joy, the joy is there too. The experience of natural childbirth is one of joy and pain. 

My next two kids I got epidermals, no physical pain at all. Only joy. Lol 

I said might experience. *LOL* You've summed it up and answered your own question rather succinctly without realizing it. Life is and experience, a mixture, of joy and pain. Our Faith is our trust that everything will work out for the best.

[+Sherapy]

14 minutes ago, Hammerclaw said:

I said might experience. *LOL* You've summed it up and answered your own question rather succinctly without realizing it. Life is and experience, a mixture, of joy and pain. Our Faith is our trust that everything will work out for the best.

I think it depends on the experience, It can be a mix of joy and pain, it can be predominately joyous, it may be only sorrow.

When my sister was murdered it ran the gamut ( spectrum ) of pain for a long long time. Now, the intensity of the pain has become an accepted serene sadness. I can't say, even though  I would like to be all noble and wise to feign hope, but her murder didn't hold some great lesson for me or was it for my best, it was a tragedy and life has those too. Experiences we have no choice, but to accept because it is the reality. 

I could go on and on, but you get my point. 

Edited December 26, 2017 by Sherapy

[+Hammerclaw]

1 minute ago, Sherapy said:

I think it depends on the experience, It can be a mix of joy and pain, it can be predominately joyous, it can be only sorrow. 

When my sister was murdered it ran the gamut ( spectrum ) of pain for a long long time. Now, the intensity of the pain has become an accepted serene sadness. I can't say some great lesson came from that, it was a tragedy and life has those for some. 

I could go in and on, but you get my point. 

Yes, we learn to live with the pain, but are never truly free of it. It coexists with our happiness, such as it is and makes it even more precious to us, the contrast I spoke of. 

[+Sherapy]

11 minutes ago, Hammerclaw said:

Yes, we learn to live with the pain, but are never truly free of it. It coexists with our happiness, such as it is and makes it even more precious to us, the contrast I spoke of. 

Agreed.

I can appreciate how faith is central for you, for me, that life is fluid and always changing is my saving grace. 

Phew

Edited December 26, 2017 by Sherapy

[+Hammerclaw]

9 minutes ago, Sherapy said:

Agreed.

I can appreciate how faith is central  for you, for me, that life is fluid and always changing is my saving grace. 

Phew

For by grace are you saved through Faith--and you've found yours.                      https://youtu.be/VITDpayaHus                   

 

Edited December 26, 2017 by Hammerclaw

[+Sherapy]

55 minutes ago, Hammerclaw said:

For by grace are you saved through Faith--and you've found yours.                      https://youtu.be/VITDpayaHus                   

 

For you...

Edited December 26, 2017 by Sherapy

[+Hammerclaw]

2 hours ago, Sherapy said:

For you...

And for you Oh Pearl of Great Price.              

                                

[Nostrodumbass]

On 12/23/2017 at 9:42 PM, XenoFish said:

First and foremost I would like to keep this from becoming a Us vs Them thread. So please simply entertain the questions and concepts I might be presenting. Thank you.

I asked how your belief affect you, shape your subjective reality and personal mindset. This time I'm asking perhaps a rather personal question. 

What do you do to apply your faith in day to day life?

I do not apply my faith in day to day life, I apply my selfish desires and lusts. That is me: a slave to fears and pleasures.

Somehow the spirit hasn't left me though; and keeps calling. It keeps drawing closer, it keeps cleansing, it keeps lifting up and making  better. I think its more a case of God applying faith in me than me in him. For that I am thankful, and feel beloved.

Edited December 26, 2017 by Nostrodumbass

[I'mConvinced]

Good question Xenofish. For me, faith and belief play no part in my life except where they can be applied to our physical existence.

I have faith in an airplane remaining in the sky due to the laws of physics and belief in the pilots skill to land it safely when required.

People often ask me what do I live for if I have no belief in a purpose or reason behind our existence? I always reply "the same as you, to survive as well as you can for as long as you feel you can.  To procreate and/or help ensure the survival of the species. These are the purposes for which we can be sure we are built and they provide all the reason you need".

People that know me are mostly staggered by my views because they are sure, after meeting me in person, that I'm a really spiritual person. The truth is that for me and my family to survive in the happiest way possible being sociable, forgiving, kind, generous etc is, in the country and place I live, simply the best way to promote a stable and pleasant environment around me to survive within. 

However, I am not sure who I would be if I had grown up in Mogadishu as a pauper, and this is why I never claim moral superiority. When all is said and done there might, or might not, be a God (a creator seems somewhat likely imo) but it doesn't impact my life one bit either way.

[jmccr8]

On 26/12/2017 at 5:53 AM, I'mConvinced said:

Good question Xenofish. For me, faith and belief play no part in my life except where they can be applied to our physical existence.

I have faith in an airplane remaining in the sky due to the laws of physics and belief in the pilots skill to land it safely when required.

People often ask me what do I live for if I have no belief in a purpose or reason behind our existence? I always reply "the same as you, to survive as well as you can for as long as you feel you can.  To procreate and/or help ensure the survival of the species. These are the purposes for which we can be sure we are built and they provide all the reason you need".

People that know me are mostly staggered by my views because they are sure, after meeting me in person, that I'm a really spiritual person. The truth is that for me and my family to survive in the happiest way possible being sociable, forgiving, kind, generous etc is, in the country and place I live, simply the best way to promote a stable and pleasant environment around me to survive within. 

However, I am not sure who I would be if I had grown up in Mogadishu as a pauper, and this is why I never claim moral superiority. When all is said and done there might, or might not, be a God (a creator seems somewhat likely imo) but it doesn't impact my life one bit either way.

I really like how you expressed yourself here and in some ways am similar in thinking. I have faith in myself and assume that there are reliable constants but am always aware of Murphy's law so my faith in myself is the balance and why I work to positive ends, both in the things I do and the people that I meet.

There are times I have to laugh when things seem to go sideways and tease myself that if thos is karma I must have been a real pr..k in my past life laugh and move on.

jmccr8

[Likely Guy]

Call me Pollyanna but I hold my faith in humankind and that most people are decent and try to do the right thing.

Those that aren't, and don't, I consider exceptions to the rule.

[Stubbly_Dooright]

On 12/23/2017 at 11:04 PM, Hammerclaw said:

I'm like Matthew Broderick in LadyHawke; there's more than a little of Phillippe the Mouse to me.

That was a damn cool movie, I feel, and boy did I fall in love with Rutger Haour in that one.  

On 12/23/2017 at 2:42 PM, XenoFish said:

First and foremost I would like to keep this from becoming a Us vs Them thread. So please simply entertain the questions and concepts I might be presenting. Thank you.

I asked how your belief affect you, shape your subjective reality and personal mindset. This time I'm asking perhaps a rather personal question. 

What do you do to apply your faith in day to day life?

I don't know if this makes sense, but I use internal rituals and messages to guide me. And then, I see if my internal spirit, (as I have seen as a gift from a higher power, ...... maybe   )  and the outside world syncs up. 

On 12/25/2017 at 7:25 PM, XenoFish said:

For me, it allows me to acknowledge personal weaknesses. If I know the situation sucks I then must find away to fix it. I might not like the process but I definitely do not like the issue plaguing me. I do not like the idea of having to rely on people to help me fix my problem. Great or small, because while they might be concerned about me/it. They also have no real investment in it, unless it affects them. So lean on the only strength you have, yourself. There will be day you are going to be weak and empty, just keep going.

I always feel, that the truth will set you free. Granted, I want to escape it's knowledge for a time, (that's why I love to read  ) but instead of escaping, I like to make sure that I am aware of the reality, good and bad. At least, I can go from there, and see what I can do about it. In any way I can. 

On 12/25/2017 at 7:42 PM, Sherapy said:

I am not a victim, I will not wallow more than is nessecary, I will find a way, no matter how hard, or how resistant, how hopeless, how dark, how broken things seem, I accept what is, figure out what to do, get it done and move on. 

It is called resilience and I use it, and recently I have discovered that when the backdrop of life is as black and dismal and brutal as it can get, and then it gets worse,  if I face and accept what is hope shines the brightest and doors open, and things work out for my best.

For me, Non Attachment is a great strategy when the circumstances of life deal a tough hand. And humor, finding a way to laugh at myself helps.

Being positive doesn't mean you never have a negative moment it means you have the resilience to transcend the negative and grow from it. There is always gonna be negative moments, but they don't last. 

I love the quote "this to shall pass." Respect the process, it is here I look deeply within and find what I need. I control as much as nessecary for the given situation, and let go easily, change my mind quickly to adapt to the new normal whatever that is for me in the moment. I enjoy redefining myself through my experiences. For me, the tough ones give me wisdom. 

My granny told me, she said life won't hit you with every bad thing at once you will have time to get through the tough things and find things about you that will help you as you journey through life. 

 

Well said.  

How else, must one learn to navigate through life. And, I think, one must do, what one must do, to deal with it maturally and individualistically and calmly. Kind of like, how they say that 'necessity is the mother of all inventions'. Or like they say, one door closes, another opens. Or a window...............

On 12/25/2017 at 8:23 PM, Sherapy said:

I tread carefully with the attitude is everything, change this and one is good to go, to often it is taken as if one just only thinks positive, happy thoughts and focuses only on this and put their faith in something outside of themselves all will be peachy, I don't think you are saying this, but it is important to mention there are things that just suck, that are not fun, that you would not wish for anyone, let alone yourself  and you aren't able to be happy about, you would be stressed about, or are so awful you are motivated to seek help, but this doesn't mean you don't go on, or find a better way, or you cease to function, or maybe you do for a bit, yet, the bleakness is what motivates you. I think if something sucks it sucks. It is what it is. I think empathy for yourself and for others is not mentioned enough, many people are pulled out of the depths of despair by this and this alone, just one person saying this must suck for you. Or saying you should be upset, I would be too. Etc. etc. We tend to forget that we too once learned the hard way and now stand wiser. I have not always had a great attitude about things, but pushed through till things got better  or had someone who showed me compassion or empathy which brought me back eventually, whatever emotion I was navigating through changed. Emotions come and go too. I think by mindset you mean have a Philosophy that is productive and viable in application, that it is results oriented not based in denial, or victimization. 

I have always been a person who believes in being honest about how one feels. 

 

 

[+Sherapy]

2 hours ago, Stubbly_Dooright said:

That was a damn cool movie, I feel, and boy did I fall in love with Rutger Haour in that one.  

I don't know if this makes sense, but I use internal rituals and messages to guide me. And then, I see if my internal spirit, (as I have seen as a gift from a higher power, ...... maybe   )  and the outside world syncs up. 

I always feel, that the truth will set you free. Granted, I want to escape it's knowledge for a time, (that's why I love to read  ) but instead of escaping, I like to make sure that I am aware of the reality, good and bad. At least, I can go from there, and see what I can do about it. In any way I can. 

Well said.  

How else, must one learn to navigate through life. And, I think, one must do, what one must do, to deal with it maturally and individualistically and calmly. Kind of like, how they say that 'necessity is the mother of all inventions'. Or like they say, one door closes, another opens. Or a window...............

I have always been a person who believes in being honest about how one feels. 

 

 

Wow, first of all glad to have you back. You have been missed. Second you summed out so eloquently what it took me a few paragraphs to say.

Your brilliant way of pinpointing viable wisdom has been missed.

I love, love loooovvvveee,  "I have always been a person who believes in being honest about how I feel" and I slip in how things really are, for me. 

It doesn't mean I can't find a way, or am not resilient, it means I am human and sharing my humanness authentically with others. Being this way, I have a great tool bag of resources, great family, friends, a big part of my sharing is to glean wisdom from others, which helps fast track solutions and I learn so much. 

In the past few years, I have learned so much from my personal experiences: stuff I would never have had cause to know about myself, my strengths and weaknesses had I have not been open to personal authenticity, and this includes facing reality for what it is. 

 

 

 

Edited December 27, 2017 by Sherapy

[Mr Walker]

I try to always act in total concert with my values, ethics, and my  philosophical beliefs about myself and others, so that faith and reality are always in concert, and not separated. This keeps me, also, from acting hypocritically   I don't have a religious faith but i have faith in my self , in humanity, (and in individual humans)  and in the future.

This  faith, in these things, allows me, not just to get up and function every day, but to do so without fear, without worry,  and always in hope, optimism  and love.    It energises me, gives me purpose and strength, and empowerment . A human without hope or faith in anything might as well already  be dead . it doesn't really matter what you invest faith and hope in, but it is essential for human survival. 

[Stubbly_Dooright]

On 12/27/2017 at 6:34 PM, Sherapy said:

Wow, first of all glad to have you back. You have been missed.

  Awwww, shucks. By the way, the situation that took me from here, has been on the way of being rectified. Probably, also a bit of a blessing in disguise. Since you know more, Sheri, you probably know what I'm talking about.  

Quote

Second you summed out so eloquently what it took me a few paragraphs to say.

Your brilliant way of pinpointing viable wisdom has been missed.

I love, love loooovvvveee,  "I have always been a person who believes in being honest about how I feel" and I slip in how things really are, for me. 

It doesn't mean I can't find a way, or am not resilient, it means I am human and sharing my humanness authentically with others. Being this way, I have a great tool bag of resources, great family, friends, a big part of my sharing is to glean wisdom from others, which helps fast track solutions and I learn so much. 

You know, I think I feel that's how you have been able to heal and resolve your childhood, and be the awesome and selfless person you are now. Knowing it's there and it's something that will always have some form of an effect on you. I feel that way about me, and certain things with me and my past and childhood. I cannot say my childhood matches yours, and I feel a bit guilty in some sense to that. (Though, I think certain relatives of yours, who have stepped in and raised you, seem to have that positive effect on you, like I see my folks and siblings on me. ) 

Things I grew up to in my area, seem to have an effect negatively, but I also see it as something that helped me be independent of them and though I would still blame them for their failures, I feel it's more of a failure for me not to help myself. I think the honesty of reality, helps us overcome in our own little ways. So that blame I lay on others, it's just a simple way of keeping them accountable of their actions, but not depending on them to help. I help myself. I think that's the best gift one can give themselves.     I also don't want to lie to myself. I think that would screw me up. In fact, it has in the past.   

Quote

In the past few years, I have learned so much from my personal experiences: stuff I would never have had cause to know about myself, my strengths and weaknesses had I have not been open to personal authenticity, and this includes facing reality for what it is. 

That's another thing. Even with bad memories and experiences, they end up helping us in the end, right? How can one learn if they don't have situations to learn from? I tend to be thankful for that.   If anything, to still be honest of any situations that have occurred to you and have experiences, one way of looking at it is see one's self as .... worldly, right?     

And thank you, for you words.     You're a gem, always a gem.